Extreme Makeover Home Edition brought a lot of excitement and buzz to Joplin. Several people from Forest Park volunteered and had a great time. We have some single gals who talked about it in such a way that it was hard to tell which was more exciting: helping the seven families or being near Ty Pennington. (grin) In all seriousness, if you enjoyed serving these seven families, you will enjoy serving at Mission Joplin. You’ll actually have more personal contact with people who need healing and help. And being in the presence of Jesus Christ while serving others in His name:  it doesn’t get any better than that! We are open tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come and…

Yesterday I picked up some items that people from South Haven Baptist Church in Springfield donated to Mission Joplin. Included was a new nativity set, soup, and CANNED MEAT!  (Disaster work is hard and our people need protein!) When one of our members who lost just about everything learned that Springfield churches are collecting nativity sets she said, “That makes me tear up that the Springfield folks are gathering nativity sets! How thoughtful and what a wonderous blessing! The holidays will be difficult for so many of us this year…I love how God plans things out long before we even realize the need.”

We will be open tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. We need dish soap, bleach,…

I meet a good number of people who have real needs due to the tornado but feel embarrassed or awkward about coming to Mission Joplin.  I tell them, “This is God’s way of helping you. Don’t let pride stand in the way of God!”  One of my friends wrote me two days ago and said, “John, We went to Mission Joplin today. What a blessing. The words I would use for everyone who dealt with us was ‘kind, gentle, caring!’”  If you have needs let us show God’s love to you. 

Tomorrow we are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  We need a good number of volunteers to be personal shoppers and assist those who come in to…

There has been a lot of excitement in Joplin this week, especially for the seven families that were chosen by Extreme Makeover Home Edition for a FREE new home!  What a wonderful blessing for them! For the hundreds of families that were not chosen, we are honored to have the privilege of serving and encouraging you. Sometimes it can hurt when you are in great need and others receive lots of attention and help. You might find yourself wondering, “Why not me?”  We have not forgotten about you!  Come and let us help you with your needs. For those of you on the helping end, we could use meaty soups, coats, jeans, socks, underwear, and canned meat. Some churches in…

One of our volunteers at Mission Joplin met the sweetest lady! She is around 60. Her daughter died a few months ago from cancer and she is raising her 4 year old grandson. (He is a beautiful child!) The 60 year-old also had breast cancer resulting in a mastectomy two weeks before the tornado. She lost everything she owned in the storm. She had the sweetest spirit and didn’t want to “take too much because there are so many others who may need it”. She still had the port from the surgery and it had become infected. Her doctor’s office was destroyed in the tornado and she didn’t know what to do. Our personal shopper was able to help this…

Sue came into Mission Joplin looking for help. She and her husband lost their home and their car in the tornado. Her husband had been a taxi driver in Joplin and the business was destroyed in the tornado as well.  Because of his age, he was told that he won’t be replaced. They are now destitute. Sue was so gracious and humble and really touched the heart of the personal shopper that helped her. I noticed the difference between the former astronaut that I talked about in my last post and this wife of a cab driver. Although they come from different stations in life, they both had needs. God is no respecter of persons and neither are we at…